poor quality picture on Sky+HD

[admin_exported]

ive just received my Sky+HD box and the picture quality is appalling in SD, my previous sky+ box was far superior with SD, and im also disappointed with the HD picture as well.

any tips or ideas on how to improve this

 

[Andy Clough]

What type of TV and connection are you using?

 

[Anonymous]

HDMI cable through amp, and TV is listed at the bottom !!

 

[aliEnRIK]

Trust me ~ your definitely not the 1st to say that

What box do you have?

A few things you can try ~

swopping between 1080i and AUTO settings

Try a SCART cable for SD viewing

 

[Anonymous]

Presume your TV has been calibrated? At least you maybe have used dvd video essentials to get the colours to your liking? Sky HD is broadcast in 1080i not 1080p so if your TV has a setting (my panny 50 inch does) and you watch a lot of Sky set your TV to 1080i, that will partly help, setting your TV up properly is a must, I personally would say there is something wrong with your settings, I just finished watching the game on ITV HD and it looks awesome?

FYI I have Panasonic 50 PX70 with mark grant hdmi cables running through an onkyo 706 amp, most of the channels in HD look to me at least, impeccable, your tastes may be different but I have not come across a problem with picture quality that cannot be solved by tweaking either the Sky box or the TV settings.

Hope that helps.

 

[Anonymous]

I've no complaints about HD transmissions, but have to agree with Christian that SD quality is underwhelming to say the least.

LL

 

[Anonymous]

Most modern TV's will have built in freeview tuners so you have a choice to watch Sky SD or Freeview SD, they are never going to be anywhere near the quality of Sky HD/DVD or Blu-ray so it will be dis-appointing I suspect, it does not bother me!

I have to say though that the Humax range of PVR's give a superb picture on SD through RGB scart!

 

[digigriffin]

I keep hearing the reports of poor SD pictures from Sky+HD.

I have a launch date thomson Sky+HD via hdmi set at 1080i and am very happy with the quality of the SD channels.
To me using the TV's built in freeview or a Sky SD channel look the same in terms of quality.

I am sure that people are having issues but no idea why so are and some aren't?

 

[sonycentre]

Reason for the thompson boxes is that they will have slightyly better video scalers in them.now that sky own amstrad.....cheaper components will be used.i still have a first run yhompson hd box and im also,happy with sd pictures,but then im only using a 32" screen.you will see a huge diffrence on a much bigger screen,40" and above.

 

[daveh75]

sonycentre:Reason for the thompson boxes is that they will have slightyly better video scalers in themThat's debatable,imo.

The biggest issue for SD viewing with an Sky HD box,is the fact you cant get a native 576i signal out of it over HDMI.All Sky HD boxes deinterlace and not very well at that.

now that sky own amstrad.....cheaper components will be used.Why do people keep mentioning this,like it's a new occurance?

Sky bought Amstrad back in june/july 07!!!! With the sole intention of manufacturing the already very cheaply produced STB's even cheaper, so it's not a new problem...........

 

[sonycentre]

Yes thats true daveh75...but the public want cheaper products,and so companys still have to make a bit of profit.its all relative in the end,thompson boxes were over £500 when first launched,amstrad boxes cost about £65 to make now.

 

[Anonymous]

Replacing components with cheaper ones to save money happens all the time, the first Gen Sky boxes were the best IMO, no one will ever take mine off me, even when the new 1tb box comes out!

I still maintain anyone who complains about picture quality should set their TV up properly first, then make sure they have a decent HDMI cable, I know lots of people who watch TV with the default settings, rather silly IMHO.

 

[The_Lhc]

sonycentre:Yes thats true daveh75...but the public want cheaper products,and so companys still have to make a bit of profit.its all relative in the end,thompson boxes were over £500 when first launched,amstrad boxes cost about £65 to make now.

Whatever, it has no relevance to picture quality from Thomson or Samsung boxes though.

 

[sonycentre]

the_lhc:
sonycentre:Yes thats true daveh75...but the public want cheaper products,and so companys still have to make a bit of profit.its all relative in the end,thompson boxes were over £500 when first launched,amstrad boxes cost about £65 to make now.

Whatever, it has no relevance to picture quality from Thomson or Samsung boxes though.

yes it does if cheaper components are used,Thompson boxes used better components,as for samsung i cant comment,like i said i have a first gen thompson box,and i am very happy with the picture from sd/and hd can look stunning as well.of course it will also depend on the tv,size used/cables.the freebie that sky provides you with will not be the best cables.

 

[The_Lhc]

sonycentre:the_lhc:sonycentre:Yes thats true daveh75...but the public want cheaper products,and so companys still have to make a bit of profit.its all relative in the end,thompson boxes were over £500 when first launched,amstrad boxes cost about £65 to make now.
Whatever, it has no relevance to picture quality from Thomson or Samsung boxes though.

yes it does if cheaper components are used,Thompson boxes used better components,as for samsung i cant comment,like i said i have a first gen thompson box,and i am very happy with the picture from sd/and hd can look stunning as well.of course it will also depend on the tv,size used/cables.the freebie that sky provides you with will not be the best cables.

Apologies, I quoted the wrong reply, I'd meant to quote the post regarding Sky owning Amstrad. THAT will have no impact on how Thompson or Samsung decide to manufacture their boxes. Sky pressuring them on the cost of the boxes might of course but that's not the same thing.

 

[Sorreltiger]

I must have been mistaken, but I thought there were literally hundreds of pages in various forums complaining about poor quality Thomson boxes, not to mention all those folk whose boxes continually locked up and who've upgraded the dodgy caps or given up and asked for a new box without those issues.

 

[daveh75]

Sorreltiger:I must have been mistaken, but I thought there were literally hundreds of pages in various forums complaining about poor quality Thomson boxes, not to mention all those folk whose boxes continually locked up and who've upgraded the dodgy caps or given up and asked for a new box without those issues.Zackly.

 

[Anonymous]

Well that may be true mate but I have one and its never crashed once and picture is stunning, mind you my TV is only 1080i so it fits Sky HD treat as that is also 1080i innit!

 

[Anonymous]

Hi I had the same problem and posted many complaints about the very poor quality of SD. I was so fed up with sky and there poor quality i sent the sky + HD box back and reverted back to my old sky +with QED Performance scart superb picture on my Kuro.

Will sky never learn we the general public demand better sd transmittions.

For HD I use my Foxsat PVR excellent quality HD and SD pictures

 

[The_Lhc]

J J:Hi I had the same problem and posted many complaints about the very poor quality of SD. I was so fed up with sky and there poor quality i sent the sky + HD box back and reverted back to my old sky +with QED Performance scart superb picture on my Kuro.

Did you? You should have mentioned it before...

Will sky never learn we the general public demand better sd transmittions.

No, they don't. The general public just want chips and beer, they don't demand anything. Those of us who care about things like this are in a very small minority.

For HD I use my Foxsat PVR excellent quality HD and SD pictures

So, for the 4th or 5th time of asking, did you try setting your SkyHD box to output at "Auto" rather than 1080i?

Any chance of getting a reply this time?

 

[Gerrardasnails]

the_lhc:
J J:Hi I had the same problem and posted many complaints about the very poor quality of SD. I was so fed up with sky and there poor quality i sent the sky + HD box back and reverted back to my old sky +with QED Performance scart superb picture on my Kuro.

Did you? You should have mentioned it before...

Will sky never learn we the general public demand better sd transmittions.

No, they don't. The general public just want chips and beer, they don't demand anything. Those of us who care about things like this are in a very small minority.

For HD I use my Foxsat PVR excellent quality HD and SD pictures

So, for the 4th or 5th time of asking, did you try setting your SkyHD box to output at "Auto" rather than 1080i?

Any chance of getting a reply this time?

I agree. Those that are passionate about the picture we get are more likely to be worried about the HD picture. Almost everything worth watching for me is also shown in HD - Films on Sky, Sport on Sky and ESPN, Lost, 24, The Good Wife, Life.... In SD only, Eastenders, Corrie, blah blah. Who cares how sharp the Mitchells look?!

 

[The_Lhc]

It's going to take a lot more than HD to make Phil Mitchell look sharp...

 

[Sorreltiger]

To be honest, my BBC1 picture for 5 Days, Spooks etc isn't far behind an upscaled DVD (I have an 8G Kuro). It's only channels like 5 where the PQ is rubbish - I don't reckon that's really Sky's fault and I don't watch those channels very much anyway.

 

[Anonymous]

the_lhc:The general public just want chips and beer, they don't demand anything.

They demand chips and beer, and so do I, along with decent Sky SD transmissions.

 

[Anonymous]

Hi yes I did put the sky + HD box on AUTO and the sd picture was rubbish